


The Key to the Club

by milkwithcalsehun



Category: EXO, Kpop - Fandom, SHINee
Genre: Club!AU, College!AU, M/M, kinky jinki shows up from time to time, lil bit of sulay lmao, mentions of Kaisoo, plus marskon and tao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 14:41:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4104616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkwithcalsehun/pseuds/milkwithcalsehun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where Jonghyun and Key find love in a hopeless place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Key to the Club

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tvxq](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tvxq/gifts).



> Holler, y'all.
> 
> Jongkey
> 
> Please enjoy

The bass thumped as sweaty bodies grinded to the beat of the music. The club's dance floor was a grimy mess of people and desperation, or, in other words, Jonghyun's perfect playground.

He looked around the club for some hot young piece of ass, scanning the crowd as if he had on x-ray goggles. When he found what he was looking for, he set his eyes on the prize and made his way into the dark abyss of dancing young adults.

As he passed through the people, doing a little two-step here and there, tossing out a little sidewinder occasionally, maybe a couple of catdaddys, he constantly kept his eyes locked on target. 

When he reached the end of the swarming mass of bodies, he saw his ultimate goal standing about ten feet away in some tight-ass, neon yellow cheetah print jeans, back turned to him. He smirked and strolled right on over.

"Wooooooooo, look at that booty! Damn," he whistled, causing the other man to whip right on around at the sound of his voice.

"Oh my God, Jonghyun, you have got to stop saying that every time you see me," the other man with the poppin' booty rolled his eyes.

"But Kibummie, I just knew I'd see you and your fine ass here!" Jonghyun shouted, half ignoring "Kibummie's" scolding.

"Of course you would see me here. I own the club you fucking idiot," Kibum rolled his eyes.

The pretty motherfucker next to Kibum, who Jonghyun had finally learned to call "Taemin" after all the times Taemin had shown up on his couch thanks to his roomate, Minho, laughed. For some reason, Jonghyun didn't like that. Probably Taemin's flirty eyes or toothy grin or just his existence. Didn't matter.

"Aren't you underaged?" he asked Taemin, eyebrows wild and dangerous.

"No?" Taemin looked at him strangely before walking away slowly in an ambiguous direction.

"And, technically, your dad owns the club," Jonghyun pointed out.

"It'll be mine one day," Kibum shrugged.

""Whatever you say, Kibummie," Jonghyun grinned, slinging his arm over Kibum's shoulder.

"And I've told you before, please call me "Key"," Key scolded Jonghyun.

"Yeah, whatever," Jonghyun grinned before Key rolled his eyes and pulled Jonghyun onto the dance floor.

-

An alarm clock blared the tune of "Superman" by Super Junior and Jonghyun shot straight up out of the bed, almost scared shitless. He punched the snooze button and checked the time. 6:45 a.m. Ugh. He wondered to himself why he set his alarm so early, and why he even bought the damn alarm clock to begin with. And then he remembered that he didn't.

"Key, how in the fuck do I always end up in your bed? And in your pants, for that matter?" he asked, looking down to see himself in silver snakeskin print leather pants with the word "Key" written in in rhinestones up the thigh that were clearly not his own.

"Because you're always getting black-out drunk at the club and then Key drags you home out of the goodness of his heart, and then you puke all over your pants, so he fixes you up in his own pants that he shouldn't wear outside of the apartment but does anyway. Key is a patron saint, Jonghyun. You should marry this man," Jinki, Key's roomate, said from his bed across from Key's.

"Damn straight," Key nodded, walzting across the room to sit next to Jonghyun on his bed.

"Well, if he marries you, I think it would be "damn gay", not "damn straight", Kibum," Jinki corrected and Jonghyun groaned.

"Would you two shut up? I've got a hangover from hell and your chattering is not helping," he whined.

"Well if you would have stopped at six shots instead of going for twelve then you wouldn't be in this mess," Key reprimanded.

"Double or nothing," Jonghyun said, pointing his finger up to the ceiling before crashing back onto the bed.

"You're hopeless," Jinki shook his head beore getting up and walking into the kitchen-esque area of the small apartment he and Key shared.

"Why is your alarm set so early?" Jonghyun whined.

"Because I have an 8 a.m. class?" Key answered, and Jonghyun groaned adgain.

"Skip it and stay with me," Jonghyun pouted, looking up at Key with those puppy dog eyes he found really hard to say no to.

Key smiled down a Jonghyun, a Jonghyun-size soft spot forming in his heart as the seconds ticked by. He ruffled Jonghyun's hair and scrunched his cheeks up with his hands.

"Does this mean you're skipping?" Jonghyun asked, voice garbled by how much Key had scrunched his cheeks.

"Hell no," Key said, before bouncing right off the bed and right on over to his closet to get ready for class.

-

Jonghyun was gone by the time Key came back from class. If he had his way, he'd still be in Key's bed, waiting to binge-watch Netflix with him, but Jinki kicked him out. Dejected and sad, he'd made his way out of the apartment towards his own dorm actually on campus around 9:30.

He never knew who was going to be in his dorm besides himself and his roommate. The only person Jonghyun ever brought home was Key, against his will of course, because Jinki had sexiled them both from the apartment. Minho, on the other hand, was always inviting people over just to hang out or whatever, even at 9:30 a.m. Jonghyun usually didn't mind the morning crowd, because Minho didn't bring the rowdies over in the morning. By the time the rowdies did show up, Jonghyun was already gone to Key's club.

Jonghyun would never go clubbing if it weren't for Key. He'd known Key for as long as he could remember. They'd gone to school together and had became best friends in high school. They'd both decided on the same art school to go to, and had both gotten accepted, but decided not to room together. Which is how they ended up with Jinki and Minho.

When Jonghyun made it back, he walked through the door to find Minho, Taemin, and Jongin sitting on his couch (yes it was his couch, he bought it (took it from his parents' house)) playing the Wii.

"Pretty sure you're supposed to stand up and move around when you play the Wii," he clicked his tongue, causing three heads to snap in his direction as he shut the door.

"It's too early," Taemin whined.

"I'm surprised you're not running around and shit, Minho. You get all excited whenever the Wii gets brought out," Jonghyun said, slipping off his shoes and throwing his room key nonchallantly on the table.

"I was. Then Taeminnie and Jonginnie held me down and tied my wrist to the couch so I couldn't get up," Minho pouted.

Jonghyun laughed and looked at the thin sad fabric that was holding Minho's spirit down, and then laughed again because Minho could easily get himself out of that trap, only one wrist was tied, but he continued to be held just to indulge the other two. He was a nice guy like that.

Jonghyun flopped down on the couch next to Jongin, squishing the poor boy but he didn't care.

"So, Jongin, how's Kyungsoo?" Jonghyun asked conspicuously, mainly to piss Taemin off because it was just so easy.

Jongin's face twitched for a split second into something like a cross between a smile and constipation before he said , "He's fine," and went back to attempting to beat Minho at some kind of sports game on the Wii.

Jonghyun decided to stretch out and lay across the other three, prompting only Taemin to complain. They continued like that for a while, Jonghyun occasionally falling asleep before someone's knee bouced too hard or someone YELLED about losing at bowling. Sometime around 10:45, right after Jonghyun had fallen back asleep, Key decided to kick down the door and barge in.

"Oh no, our door," Minho said uninterestedly, but Jongin was slightly panicked because it is not polite to kick someone's door.

"I came for my pants," Key announced.

"Oh, my bad. I was totally going to take them off at your place and walk back home without any pants on, but Jingki kicked me out so my plans changed," Jonghyun said with a blank face, rolling off of laps and into a standing position.

"Just give me my pants back, asshole," Key said, smiling his sweetest smile.

Jonghyun started to peel Key's pants off right in the middle of the living room.

"Ew, gross. Go parade your saggy ass somewhere else," Taemin grimaced.

"You like it," Jonghyun said before going to his room to put on his own pants while Taemin began to fake sob at his own misfortune.

"So, hyung, has he asked you out yet?" Minho asked after Jonghyun was out of earshot.

"He hasn't?" Key answered, confused.

"Ah," Minho said skeptically.

"Where did this come from?" Key asked, causing Minho and Tamin to stare at him wide-eyed.

"Oh, come on, hyung. Everyone can see how he feels about you. You two have been friends since forever, and he only goes to that club because you're there. He spends the night with you almost every night and doesn't try to bang you, and comes home in your pants for God's sake. Wake up and smell the Jonghyun, hyung," Jongin said, never tearing his eyes away from the TV.

Everyone else just kind of stared at him in shock until Jonghyun beebopped into the living room and pulled Key down to sit in the floor with him.

"So what did you boys talk about while I was gone?" Jonghyun asked.

"Just about how you should really get your boyfriend here a key to the dorm so he'll stop kicking in our door and getting us in trouble with the dorm advisor," Minho said.

"He's not my boyfriend, and he has a key. He just refuses to use it," Jonghyun rolls his eyes and Key smiles open-mouthed at him.

Minho scoffs in disagreement and that ends all conversation for the next two hours until Taemin decides to yell about being hungry.

-

Later that evening, Jonghyun is at the club, standing close to Key but Key is talking to the dj and Jonghyun doesn't really care for him too much. Jonghyun takes his boredom as an oppurtunity to scan the crowd. He sees some familiar faces, like Joonmyun and Yixing, who are off in a corner tangent to the dance crowd, and Yixing keeps doing this thing where he boops Joonmyun on the tip of his nose with his finger and it's so enfuratingly cute that it depresses Jonghyun.

He moves away from them and notices Baekhyun at the bar, trying to fend off both a dozen girls demanding jello shooters and this tall, wild-eyed guy named Chanyeol trying to grab booze from behind the bar. Jonghyun felt bad for him, the poor thing, so he decided not to focus on him too long.

In the middle of the dance floor, Jonghyun noticed Jackson, Mark, and Zitao doing weird acrobatic martial arts stuff. It was kind of cool, actually, until Jackson accidentally kicked someone in the face. Seeing that made Jonghyun want a drink, so he walked into the crowd, took someone's drink, ignored the shouts of "I paid $6 for that!", and walked back to where he was originally standing near Key.

Speaking of Key, he was the main source of Jonghyun's problems. It wasn't like Jonghyun was in love with Key or anything, except that it was exactly that and constantly weighed on Jonghyun's mind. Jonghyun considred Key his best friend since way back, and he knew Key felt the same. It's why falling in love messed Jonghyun up so much. He thought it was kind of stupid, honsetly, and he wished that he could control it, and it just made him want to chug that stolen drink.

So he did.

Key had apparently finished that talk with the dj and turned around to notice Jonghyun practically inhaling his drink.

"Easy, Jonghyun," Key commented, easing the cup from Jonghyun's hand.

Jonghyun shrugged and let Key hold the cup before breaking out into a wide grin so no one could suspect him of deep thinking.

Key rolled his eyes before dragging Jonghyun off somewhere to talk to more people.

-

The following day was Saturday.

Jonghyun found himself sitting on the floor, leaning agianst Key's bed while Key got to actually sit on the bed, perched like a princess while he studied (fashion). Jonghyun kept constantly saying things and it was distracting him, though, so he wasn't getting much work done.

"But seriously, you should let me dj sometime. Your dj sucks," Jonghyun said.

"If I let you dj, you'd clear out the club," Key scoffed.

'That is false. You love my music," Jonghyun pouted.

"Sure, I do," Key cooed, reaching down to pat Jonghyun on the head.

Jonghyun tried to immerse himself in a book about the theory of jazz music in the attempt to brush of the intensity of that head pat.

"Hey, Jonghyun. What are your dreams and aspirations in life?" Key suddenly asked out of fee-fi-fiddley-fucking nowhere.

"Uh, to be a famous singer? I thought I told you that already?" Jonghyun asked, confused.

"You have, I just didn't know if you had changed your mind," Key sighed.

"Why would I change my mind?" Jonghyun asked slowly. It was never good when Key started sighing.

"Have you ever thought of owning a club?" Key asked.

"What," Jonghyun said, turning around to look at him properly so that Key could see the confusion in his eyes.

"I mean, like, my dream is to own my own clothing line, but I really want to succeed my dad's club, too. So I'm going to school to pursue my degree in fashion, and the club is practically already mine. I mean, I am the "Key" to the club," Key explained, laughing at his own pun.

"What does all that have to do with me?" Jonghyun asked, too confused to laugh.

"I'm going to be a desinger and a club-owner. Maybe you could be a singer and a club-owner?" Key asked the last part really quietly, but Jonghyun heard it, and his grin reached his ears.

"Are you asking me to buy my own club, or are you asking me to run the club with you?" he teased and Key rolled his eyes.

"Go back to your textbook," he huffed, a blush spreading across his cheeks.

"You know, if I helped you manage your club when I get famous, you'd have so much publicity," Jonghyun smirked.

Key threw a pillow at him.

-

It had reached that point in the night where Jonghyun needed to decide if he was going to go to bed or watch the sun rise, but Key was still wide awake and because he was used to staying up all night, so everytime Sunday rolled round and the club was closed, Jonghyun kept him company.

It was looking like a sun rise kind of night (morning?).

"What time is it?" Key asks and Jonghyun is so tired that he makes a choked gargling sound as a response.

"It's half-past yo momma," Jinki says from his bed, half-asleep and slightly pissed but no less squishy.

"Shut up," Key snaps, and Jonghyun gurgles again.

"No you shut up. Go the fuck to sleep and let Jonghyun sleep too. I think he's dying," Jinki comments, and Key looks over at Jonghyun and shrugs. Jonghyun just smiles back at him.

"Seriously, he's a keeper, Key," Jinki says and rolls over. He soon starts snoring, and Jonghyun passes out, leaving Key alone with his thoughts.

-

Jonghyun was seriously struggling to write his paper for advanced music theory, and Taemin was not helping.

"Hyung, are you going to invite me to your wedding when you marry Key hyung?" he asked, eyelashes batting innocently but Jonghyun knew it was fake.

"I'm trying to write a paper," Jonghyun said trying to brush the younger man off.

"And?" Taemin asked cutely.

"Why are you here? Go be annoying somewhere else. Go bother Minho or Jongin or someone that isn't me," Jonghyun griped.

"But MInho is at soccer practice and Jongin is being all gross with Kyungsoo at the dorm and they kicked me out so I have no one else to bother now besides you, my most favorite hyung," Taemin whined and Jonghyun cringed.

"I'm sorry that you're bored and stuck with me now but this paper is due in forty-eight hours and it has to be nine pages long about the history and theory of fucking jazz music and you're just so darn cute that it's distracting so can you give me at least two hours of silence so I can make a dent in this paper?" Jonghyun begged.

Taemin pouted and looked up at Jonghyun.

"I guess I can leave and get out of your hair for a while," Taemin said dejectedly, getting up and walking to the door.

"Wait, Taemin-ah, that's not what I meant," Jonghyun said, but it was too late and Taemin was already out the door.

-

Jonghyun had about fifteen minutes of slience and focus for his paper before Taemin and Key kicked down the door.

"Surprise, motherfucker," Key said, his smile almost as sparkly as his pants.

"God fucking dammit, not you, too," Jonghyun groaned and briefly acknowledged Key.

"You're not writing shit today," Taemin grinned.

"You two have each other as company now. So go somewhere else. Like Key's dorm," Jonghyun suggested.

"Jinki hyung told me not to bring him back," Taemin said.

"He lied. Take him back," Jonghyun said, trying to type some of his paper really quickly before the other two inevitably ruined his life.

"I don't want to go back. I want to stay with you," Key whined, draping himself over the back of Jonghyun.

"Go away," Jnghyun grimaced, trying reall hard to knock Key off of him but it did not work.

"You know, for someone who's like head over heels in love with Key hyung, you sure do have a shitty way of showing it," Taemin said, causing Key to laugh right in his ear.

"Both of you, out," Jonghyun said, his voice faltering a little.

"We're going to go sit in your bedroom and touch all your stuff. Tell us when you're done being a stressed-out sack of dildos," Taemin said, dragging Key wih him and successfully dodging the plastic cup Jonghyun threw at him.

-

Seven hours later, Jonghyun had successfully finished his paper. He wanted nothing more than to crash onto his bed and sleep for seventy-five plus years. He trudged his way into his room, fully ready to be met with a comfty bed and a beautiful pillow, but instead he was met with Key sitting on his bed with Taemin and Minho passed out in the floor.

"Dammit," Jonghyun groaned, his plans of brilliant sleep ruined.

"Sorry," Key whispered.

Jonghyun carefully stepped over the floor duo and sat next to Key on his bed.

"When the fuck did Minho get home?" Jonghyun asked, leaning his head on Key's shoulder.

"About five hours ago. You just didn't notice, you were so caught up in that paper," Key said, carressing Jonghyun's hair.

"Sorry about that," Jonghyun apologized.

"No problem. Sorry about bothering you. Taemin said it would be fun to mess with you, and he was so right," Key grinned, and Jonghyun frowned.

"Why are you still here, by the way, instead of the club?" Jonghyun asked, more or less kicking Key to the side so he could lay down.

"I was waiting on you, duh," Key answered, laying down next to Jonghyun and cuddling into his side.

"How cute," Jonghyun scoffed, slinging an arm around Key and pulling him closer.

Key laughed and they lay like that for a minute until something pops into Key's mind.

"Hey, are you really in love with me? You know, like what Taeminnie was talking about earlier," he asked, sending Jonghyun into a coughing fit (meaning he coughed twice).

"What," he said after his second cough.

"Are you really in love with me?" Key repeats.

"Do I have to answer?" Jonghyun tries to weasel his way out.

"Yes," Key says quickly.

"Yeah, I am, honestly. I mean, it doesn't matter so don't worry about it," Jonghyun shrugged.

"It does matter though?" Key says, really confused as to why Jonghyun is trying to brush it off.

"Nah," Jonghyun says, and Key swears he could hear Jonghyun's heart breaking.

"Since when?" Key asked.

"Since, like, high school. Maybe before. I don't know. Can you drop it?" Jonghyun snapped, not meaning to sound so angry but he was angry, and embarrassed and a little hurt and kind of fed up with the whole ordeal.

"I don't want to drop it. I like you," Key said, and he chooses that exact moment to look up at Jonghyun, who's stupid heart skips a stupid beat.

"You don't mean that," Jonghyun says, rolling his eyes because that's all he can think to do.

"I do mean that. Like maybe not since high school or anything, but for a while now. Because, I mean, you're always there, always making me laugh and being nice to me and doing stuff for me and I really really like you," Key says soflty.

Jonghyun scoffs because there's no way that it's that easy.

"You don't believe me?" Key asked.

"There's just no way that it's this easy. You know, I love you, you love me back, that, like, never happens so excuse me for being pessimistic," Jonghyun says bitterly.

Key wraps his precious little angel arms around Jonghyun.

"It hasn't been easy, you idiot," he chuckles.

Jonghyun carressess Key's arms when he realizes that Key is right. It hasn't been easy. It's kind of been hell, but he doesn't like to complain so no one would know otherwise.

"Fuck," Jonghyun says, and he pushed the hair out of Key's eyes.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Key teases and Jonghyun nods.

"Fuck," he repeats, before his eyes are on Key's lips.

He leans in. Key leans in.

They're so close that their breaths are mixing.

Key closes his eyes.

Jonghyun's lips are ghosting right over Key's.

Taemin snores suddenly and the both of them pull back. They stare at each other for a minute before breaking out into hushed laughter about how ridiculous it all is. Key leans his head against Jonghyun's collarbones and withing five minutes he's asleep.

Jonghyun considers himself a lucky man and drifts off to sleep with thoughts of Key circling in his mind.

-

The next morning when Jonghyun wakes up tangled in Key, he remembers the previous night and groans. 

He groans loud enough to wake the precious sleeping angel next to him on accident, and Key's face is stuck somewhere between a grimace and a smile.

"That's a lovely face," Jonghyun remarked and Key scowled.

"Shut up," Taemin demanded from his spot on the floor, wedged underneath Minho.

Suddenly, Minho started giggling in his sleep and Taemin started to cry because he stuck in the abyss that was sleep-laughing Minho.

Jonghyun took that as an oppurtunity to scoop Key up into his arms and carry him into the living room, much to Key's protests, which were completely ignored. When they reached the living room, Jonghyun dropped Key onto the couch and then plopped down next to him.

"Why did you feel the need to carry me," Key asks, disgust dripping from his voice like venom.

"Because you're my princess and deserve to be treated as such," Jonghyun says bluntly, reaching for Key's hand to hold it.

"Are you going to carry me everywhere now?" Key grins, squeezing Jonghyun's hand.

"Your wish is my command, your majesty," Jonghyun nodds, and Key laughs his musical little laugh that causes Jonghyun's heart to do triple axels like a professional figure skater.

Key's laughter settles down and he looks deeply into Jonghyun's eyes. They lean in again, before their lips finally touch. They can hear Taemin screaming from Jonghyun's bedroom, but they're too caught up in each other to care. Jonghyun is enraptured, mingling with the angels in heaven; Key is floating in outer space, sitting amongst the stars. 

"Wow," Key whispers against Jonghyun's lips and Jonghyun smiles.

"You're welcome," Jonghyun smirked, and Key playfully shrugged him away.

Taemin screamed again.

"Should we go help him?" Key asks, concerned.

"Nah," Jonghyun says and he captures Key's lips once again.

Taemin runs into the room and yells something along the lines of "I needed your help but I can see you were too busy sucking face!" but Key and Jonghyun ignore him in favor of each other as a giggling Minho drags him back down the hallway.

"I really do love you, Kibum," Jonghyun tells him tenderly.

"I know, and I love you, too, Jonghyun," Key smiles and Jonghyun pecks him on the cheek.

"Can I tell you something?" Jonghyun asks.

"Uh, yeah?" Key permits, still wary of the wild-eyebrowed motherfucker next to him.

"Remember how you were asking me to co-own the club with you a few days ago?" Jonghyun begins.

"Yeah?" Key answers, confused.

"An you said that thing about being the Key to the club?" Jonghyun continues.

"Oh no," Key says, eyes widening.

"Well, you may be the Key to the club," Jonghyun cuts himself off.

"Please don't," Key begs.

"But you're also the Key to my heart," Jonghyun says softly, gazing deep into Key's eyes.

"You're so gross," Key whines, but he's smiling anyway.

Jonghyun flicks him on the forehead and kisses him again.

Minho walks into the living room looking thoroughly satisfied, followed by a pissed off-looking Taemin.

"Good job, hyung. Super proud that you finally landed Key hyung," MInho said, sighing contendly and leaning against the wall.

"Um, why do you look so creepily happy?" Key asks Minho.

"And does Taemin look so mad?" Joghyun followed up.

"Ugh, please do not ask," Taemin says, and Minho laughs a scarily deep, dark laugh.

Jonghyun and Key look at each other conspicuously before walking away from the subject.

Key reached for Jonghyun's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"You're the key to my heart, too, you know," Key says and Taemin gags.

"I know," Jonghyun winks, and Minho starts laughing that dark, deep, scary laugh again, causing Taemin to get up and run, with Minho right behind him.

Alone with Key again, Jonghyun slid his arm around Key's shouders, pulling him in closer as if were they to be seperated, everything would go back to how it used to be and jonghyun would be one big unrequited loser once again.

But now, Key was his, more or less, and Jonghyun considered himself a very lucky man.


End file.
